Participants in the Google trial are encouraged to test the database's channel availability calculator, the wireless microphone registration utility and other functionality, the FCC said in a public notice last week. Participants should report any inaccuracies in the database to Google, the FCC said.

After the trial, Google will issue a report to the FCC, and the FCC will allow a public comment period before the agency acts on Google's application for certification, the agency said.

The white spaces can help ease a coming shortage of spectrum, Alan Norman, Google's principal for access, wrote in a blog post.

"There is available spectrum out there -- but it can be hard to find if you don't know where to look," Norman wrote. "One way we're trying to help researchers and other stakeholders identify available spectrum is through dynamic spectrum sharing. Spectrum sharing allows devices to use spectrum when it is not in use by someone else simply by checking a database."

The trial will "bring us all one step closer to freeing up more spectrum, which in turn will help the industry bring new wireless technologies to market and enable people to get wireless Internet access when and where they need it," he added.

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

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